This Little Piggy Went to Farm House

May 9, 2012 at 10:19 am

By Marlena Hartman-Filson, '13

Parents and prospective students often ask me what an ordinary day at is like Carleton. Weekday, weekend, it doesn't matter. They just want a window into the life of a Carl. And so I thought, "Hm. Alright. I'll just choose a day and document it with pictures and then blog about it." Saturday seemed like as good a day as any. I didn't have plans; I couldn't imagine it would be anything other than ordinary.

But it turned out to be, one might say, extraordinary. Let me explain.

My day began with a 3v3 soccer tournament fundraiser. Two of my friends organized Goals with Soul to benefit Soccer Without Borders, an organization that uses soccer as a tool to bring hope and change to impoverished communities worldwide, and Supporting Opportunities for Ugandans to Learn (SOUL), which focuses its effort on women's empowerment and education in Uganda. Twenty teams participated in a competitive and recreational division and together raised $1,190!

For me, the best part was the wonderful assortment of people who made teams. Three Ultimate Frisbee teams made soccer teams - Eclipse, GoP and Syzygy. The philosophy department had a team. 4th Goodhue had a team. Men's and women's soccer had teams.

I was on the Syzygy team. And although most of us hadn't played soccer since high school or middle school or, in the case of one girl, ever, and although it began to thunderstorm ferociously in the afternoon, we had an absolute blast.

Flannery left her defenders in the mud:

Niki showed those GoPers who was boss:

And Syzygy relished in the time we got to spend sliding around in the mud, frolicking in the rain, and playing with a round ball rather than a flat disc with our wonderful sister team.

After a brief break and nice hot shower, I migrated North to Farm House for a much anticipated event:

The First Annual CANOE House-sponsored Pig Roast!

Let me first add a disclaimer and say I have NO idea where this concept came from. I'm assuming the idea came from Jesse, who was the mastermind for all the research, planning and coordination that went into the event.

First, we allocated tasks (image from a CANOE House email thread - I've highlighted the most interesting parts). Seeing this out of context would be quite bizarre (okay, it's bizarre even in context):

The original plan was to line a pit with rocks, build a fire and maintain it as the pig cooked for 24 hours. Apparently this is something that's done? I don't know! I'm just a city girl. I grew up here - no pig roasts:

Anyway, so the pit was dug and the rocks were gathered:

But at the last minute, Student Activities received word of our plans, decided there was a pretty good chance we'd give everyone on campus food poisoning, and rented a steam cooker for us (good call, Student Activities).

And so as the rain disappeared and the evening sun came out...

... we roasted the pig (which we fondly named Suzie):

As the pig cooked, we played:

Finally, the pig was ready. Reid approved of the taste-test:

The pig was transferred to the kitchen...

Carved...

And consumed:

And that was that. A one hundred pound pig consumed by a great showing of Carleton students.

But the odd thing is this: reflecting back on my Saturday, I'm not actually sure how extraordinarily extaordinary it really was. Okay, we don't have a bunch of non-soccer players participate in a 3v3 soccer tournament to benefit international organizations or roast a massive pig every weekend, but there's always some refreshingly odd adventure to be had on campus. This weekend, we have Empty Bowls, an outdoor showing of The Muppets, and Alumni weekend, where hundreds of Ultimate Frisbee alumni return to Northfield and invade campus. I guess that's just a perk of being at Carleton. Never a dull moment.

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Comments

I just knew this had to be a Farmhouse project. It's very much in our tradition. Mr. Piggy looks absolutely delicious.

May 21 2012 at 4:10 pm

Jaye

So disturbing, and yet...so delicious.

May 21 2012 at 4:34 pm

Matt

Seeing a whole roast pig in the Farm House kitchen is causing me some serious cognitive dissonance... Back in the day I ate a fair number of vegan meals in Farm House, even though nobody living in the house was vegan. Why? Because someone vegan might unexpectedly stop by for dinner.

The bloggers

Hi! My name is Marlena and I'm a senior biology major and women and gender studies concentrator from Evergreen, Colorado. I play forward on the Women's Varsity Soccer, and I'm a cutter for Syzygy, one of the Women's Ultimate Frisbee teams. This term, I'm taking Genetics and Metalsmithing. I'm also facilitating a non-for-credit class called FemSex. Deciding on a major wasn't easy for me; I was toying with the idea of majoring in Political Science or American Studies or Women and Gender Studies, but chose Biology at the eleventh hour. For my Sophomore and Junior years, I lived in CANOE (Carleton Association for Nature and Outdoor Enthusiasts) House with twelve wonderful, adventurous housemates. This year, I'm living in a townhouse with three lovely housemates. I've studied abroad twice - once my Junior winter and one my Senior winter. Last year, I studied marine biology in Australia and this year I studied drawing and printmaking in the Cook Islands, New Zealand and Australia. The two most useful things I brought to Carleton are an electric tea kettle and my bike, who I fondly call Kennedy. I found her through Craigslist and picked her up in Minneapolis on the way to school. She's a 1970's Schwinn Suburban and the brakes squeak so loudly they double as a horn. I love photography, so on this blog I'll be trying to document some of Carleton life through pictures. If you have any questions or comments, leave me a message here or shoot me an email at mhartmanfilson@gmail.com! Enjoy.